How you made me feel
by parisindy
Summary: Harper has amnesia what can the rest of the crew do to help him remember? **COMPLETE!**
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, yeah I know I'm not done the other story yet but this one has a deadline.  
  
TITLE: How you made me feel  
  
AUTHOR: parisindy  
  
RATING: PG - 13  
  
DISCLAIMER: No money was received or exchanged. I do not own Andromeda or any of its Characters. This is purely for fun.  
  
ARCHIVE: Zion's Starfish can archive it anyone else has to ask  
  
SUMMARY: Story written for the Zion's Starfish Challenge exchange project  
  
My challenge was from Brit.  
  
Harper makes one of the others do something totally out of character.  
  
I am going to take a bit of liberty here. it may be more then one character that does something weird.hope that's okay?  
  
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| |"They may forget what you said, but they will never | | |forget how you made them feel." | | |- Carl W. Buechner | | | |  
  
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How you made me feel  
  
Harper sat in front of a panel on the bridge of the Andromeda Ascendant. Wires were strewn across the floor. He swore lightly as one of the live wired singed his fingers. Tyr glares at him annoyed and he was doing his best to ignore him.  
  
"Do you have to do that here and now?"  
  
"Well, big guy if you don't feel you need to have the helm controls attached to the slipstream drive.then no! This can be done later." Harper pretended to stand and leave.  
  
Tyr's growl was Harper's reply.  
  
Just then Dylan entered command. "What's the latest update? Are we cleared from Ogami space?"  
  
  
  
"Apparently we'll be here for some time to come." Tyr shrugged his head towards where Harper sat working.  
  
Dylan looked over towards his engineer. "That's not done yet?"  
  
"Listen." Harper was about to tell his captain and the giant Nietzschein a few things about engineering in a less then cordial manner when his rant was interrupted.  
  
"Dylan?" questioned Beka image over the intercom.  
  
"Go a head?"  
  
"Is Harper there I was just down in engineering? I couldn't find him and I wanted to tell him I think there is some thing wrong with the slipstream drive."  
  
Harper threw his wrench at the intercom vid screen.  
  
"Ah, there you are. Sheesh temper!" smiled Beka jovially.  
  
Rommie's avatar then also appeared. "Dylan my long range sensor's show Ogami high speed attack vessels less then five minutes out."  
  
"All hands report to battle stations." Shouted Dylan. "Mr. Harper we need those controls!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Harper didn't even look up as he once again concentrated on the connections. They were tricky things. There were so many interconnections. One wrong wire and he could have the slipstream drive serving coffee instead of getting them the hell out of dodge. But, if anyone knew this ship it was him. They all took him for granted. One day, he thought briefly, they would realize he really was the master.  
  
Time ticked past but he didn't even notice it. There were shouts from the others but they were like echoes in a gymnasium, loud and indistinguishable. Harper rocked forward and had to brace himself as the first wave of fighters attacked the Andromeda.  
  
He popped the last transponder in to place and shoved the loose wires back in to the panelling. "Done!" He shouted.  
  
He saw Beka reach for the slipstream controls. But, before he could even get to his feet a loud explosion picked him up. He flew briefly and violently through the air.  
  
Then the darkness came.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
It had been three days since the Ogami attack. Harper had fixed the slipstream controls just in time and they were able to get away. But they had received a lot of battle damage.  
  
Beka looked down at her engineer and lightly brushed some light blond wisps of hair off of his forehead. He had been in medical since that last explosion and he had yet to wake up.  
  
Trance joined her and Harper's side. Beka didn't like to see him quiet and still. It was a unnatural state for the younger man and her worry increased.  
  
Trance laid a light hand on Beka's shoulder. "Why don't you go get some rest? I'll stay here. If he wakes you'll be the first one I call."  
  
Beka gave a tired nod and started to leave when Harper's hand gave a little twitch.  
  
"He's coming around" smiled Beka.  
  
Trance quickly grabbed a scanner and did some quick calculations. Harper slowly opened his eyes. For once he didn't spring forward upon awaking.  
  
"Hey kiddo? You okay?" Beka voice didn't hide her worry.  
  
His bright blue eyes quickly focused but then the turned cold with fright. "Who are you?" He tried to push himself backwards in the bed.  
  
"Harper what's wrong it's me Beka."  
  
"Beka who?" he nearly shouted. "Where am I? What's going on?" It was clear he was starting to panic.  
  
Trance was quickly at his side. She deftly injected him with a light sedative. He flinched back from her touch.  
  
"What the hell are you?" he managed to gasp before sinking groggily down in the medical bed. "I'm Trance," She whispered. "Do you know your name?"  
  
A single tear slipped down his cheek. "No."  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the great reviews guys .here is another small bit.  
  
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After a couple of hours Trance cleared Harper from medical but Beka wasn't about to let him out of her sight. Trance really couldn't justify keeping him on med deck and they had both hoped maybe if he went back to his quarters he might start to remember. Beka walked down the corridor with him. He kept one hand on the wall and his eyes still looked frightened.  
  
"You okay big guy?"  
  
"Umm, yeah I guess. So you say we live here?"  
  
"Mm Hmm. For a little over two years."  
  
Is there other people here or it just me, you and the golden chick?"  
  
"Trance." she offered  
  
"That's her name?"  
  
Beka nodded and frowned. "She told you three times."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
They had come to a crossway in the corridor his stood there looking puzzled.  
  
"It's this way." She took his arm lightly and pulled him to the left. "And, to answer your question.. Yes, there are others. There is Dylan this is his ship, Tyr and Rommie. Do you remember anything at all?"  
  
"Not really. I'm sorry."  
  
"Quit apologizing." Beka rubbed her face completely at a loss. "I'm just worried about you."  
  
"Why are we related or something?"  
  
"Well, we are a family of a sorts but no we're not related. Both our families are dead."  
  
Harper stopped to look at her. He seemed to turn a little paler. "Was it something I did?"  
  
"No, gawd Harper why would you think that?"  
  
"I don't know I just feel like there's something wrong." He gave a small dry laugh. "I just can't remember what."  
  
Beka started walking again and urged him to follow. "Well I'm sure Trance is working on that right now . she said it was most likely temporary." Beka smiled. "I know you Seamus you have a pretty hard head."  
  
He gave a small smile.  
  
They walked on a few moments more in awkward silence.  
  
Rommie the android met them at the door of machine shop seventeen. Beka had told her to stay away till she had brought Harper down. She didn't want to overwhelm him.  
  
"Hello." Rommie smiled. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Hi." Was Harper's only reply.  
  
"Harper this is Rommie. You made her."  
  
"Wh-what!?"  
  
"I'm an android." Harper accepted the information but said nothing.  
  
Rommie raised her eyebrow at Beka. Beka shrugged her shoulders in reply.  
  
"Come on sport lets get you inside okay?"  
  
Harper gave a small nod. Beka studied him again. He looked exhausted. Trance had said she had given him something to help him sleep. Maybe a goodnight's rest would bring her engineer and friend back to her.  
  
Rommie and Beka went in to action. Both of them had taken care of him so many times through illness and drunken shore leaves. Rommie busied her self, cleaning the sparky cola cans off his bed and Beka searched for a clean blanket.  
  
It took Beka a moment to realize that Harper had not followed her in. He still stood by the door.  
  
"Aren't you coming in?"  
  
He didn't reply he only stared lifelessly. Beka went over to him and took his hand. "It's okay. It you're home."  
  
His eyes roamed around the room unsure. "What is all this stuff?" He may be hurt but he was still insecure. It made her sad to think he didn't even know why he felt the need to be so cautious. He didn't trust them and he had no frame of reference of why trusting people was such a hard thing for him to do.  
  
"You're our engineer. and so you have a lot of stuff. What it does. well you'll know better then me."  
  
He gave a small shrug as his hand rested a large metal structure. "I have no idea."  
  
"That was where you worked on Rosie." Supplied Rommie hoping the name would mean something to him.  
  
"Rosie? Was she an android like you?"  
  
Beka didn't allow him to wait for an answer as she directed him towards a small pallet in the corner.  
  
"Sleep now. It will be better in the morning."  
  
Beka helped him under the covers and Rommie dimmed the lights.  
  
"Are you sure?" He whispered.  
  
"Wait and see. Sleep."  
  
Beka watched him for a few moments until she was sure he was asleep.  
  
Then she followed Rommie out the door. As the door closed behind her Beka's legs gave way and she sunk to the floor. All the stress of the last couple of hours had overwhelmed her.  
  
"Beka?"  
  
Beka raised her hand to ward off the frightened avatar. "It's okay Rommie. It's just hard for me to see him like this." She bit back a sob. Freighter captains don't cry she told her self.  
  
"Trance said he had a sixty percent chance of regaining his memory."  
  
"I know, I know dammit!" She felt bad the minute the words left her mouth. She wasn't mad at Rommie.  
  
"Why don't you get some sleep yourself?" Beka felt the Rommie had run over her arm taking down her vital statistics. "My scans show you haven't eaten in over eight hours. Go. Rest. I'll watch him."  
  
Beka though it over for a moment.maybe things really would be better in the morning.  
  
"Oh no."  
  
Beka quickly perked up. "What is it Rommie?"  
  
Andromeda's voice came through loud over the intercom. "Red alert in coming Ogami attack vessels. All hands report to command immediately. Red alert. Repeat. Red alert."  
  
  
  
TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Another little bit  
  
  
  
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Harper woke from his brief slumber. He blinked rapidly trying to clear his blurry eyes. He groaned and rubbed the top of his head where it still ached. The gold girl that looked like a statue had given him pain pills but they had only numbed the ache.  
  
The other two were gone. He was alone. He was glad it gave him a moment to think things over. There was a loud crash and the room swayed. He gripped the sides of his bed to steady him self as he stood up. There was an odd ringing in his ears. It took him more then a few moments to realize it wasn't in his head.  
  
Maybe he should try the door. He paused for a moment. Was he a prisoner? He didn't think so. He felt very confused and lost. He stepped towards the door but stopped when he saw an unknown face looking back at him. It was reflection.  
  
There were so many tools and piping just scattered around he shouldn't have been surprised when one shiner piece of metal. He rubbed his hand across his face.  
  
"No matter what." he whispered "Don't let anyone tell you . there is nothing more frightening that not recognizing your own face."  
  
The ship shuddered. What the heck was going on? He stepped up to the door wondering once again if it would be locked. He jumped slightly when it hissed open. He stuck his head cautiously out the door. Looking both right then left before leaving. The hall was bathed in a dark blue pulsating light. It must mean something but he had no idea what. Where ever the light was coming from so was the alarm.  
  
There was no one around. not the blonde lady who looked worried or even that strange robot girl. He wandered down the hall. The place looked so large and empty. He walked not having a clue where his feet were leading him.  
  
After about ten minutes he got brave enough to try a door.  
  
He stepped forward as the door opened and he stepped forward trying to look more confident then he did. It turned out it didn't matter. There was no one in side. He jumped slightly as the door closed behind him and the alarm grew slightly less abrasive.  
  
He walked around the room allowing his fingers to rail over the furniture absently. This was someone home. It was a big place. His brow wrinkled in thought. Where were all the people why had he net only three. The blonde lady she had mentioned others once.but there had to be more? Did there? She must be lying he thought. But why?  
  
Maybe there were thieves?  
  
No, there would have needed more people to steal something this big. All of this made no sense.  
  
He wandered around. There were photos on the dresser of a dark skin man smiling brightly holding a little girl. The next picture was of a small black dog with one white paw. Did he know these people he wondered?  
  
His head began to ache even more.  
  
He turned around. The Robot girl stood no more then three feet away. He screamed in surprise. He hadn't heard her come in.  
  
"Where the hell did you come from?" he gasped when the air from his lungs returned.  
  
She looked at him strangely and she had here arms crossed. She was wearing different clothes then when he saw her last. Had he been asleep long enough for her to change?  
  
"Why are you here?" she asked.  
  
"Um, what? Yeah I guess I shouldn't be in some one else's room they'll get mad."  
  
"She looked at him almost sadly. I'm sure Lieutenant Piccolo wouldn't have minded. He was a very nice man."  
  
He couldn't help but notice the past tense.  
  
There was another loud crash and the room shook. Harper stopped once again frightened. The robot girl. no.it was his imagination but there was another explosion and he was sure of it. The Robot girl flickered.  
  
She noticed him staring and smiled. "Maybe you can fix that?"  
  
"How'd you do that?"  
  
"Try to remember."  
  
"The blonde lady said I made you."  
  
Her smile turned to a sad frown. She looked disappointed. "You only made part of me. The Captain asked me to take you to the bridge.your needed there, the Ogami are back."  
  
He nodded and silently followed her from the room. What the hell was an Ogami?  
  
tbc  
  
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	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all the reviews and your patience guy's it's been a weird week. here's the next part :-D  
  
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He followed the ghost robot through a number of twist and turns before she directed him though a very large door. The minute he stepped through hey was eye to eye with a very large very angry looking man.  
  
The words 'be very afraid' bounced quickly around his head like a tennis ball. His heart threatened to escape from his chest.  
  
"It's about time boy." He growled and he couldn't contain the squeak of fear that escaped as the man grabbed his shirt and thrust him to the middle of the room.  
  
He felt naked and stood still and stiff in the hub of activity. He finally managed to blink and after a few seconds later the air returned to his lungs.  
  
The ship began to rock more violently now as even more explosives impacted on the hull. The lights in the very large and noisy room began to flicker.  
  
He clasped his hands over his ears, closed his eyes and sunk slowly to the floor. He sat rocking himself back and forth trying to block the chaos from his senses.  
  
Someone grabbed his arms pulling them from his face. He fought them he just wanted to remember . this couldn't be his life!  
  
"Harper?" The voice shouted. He ignored it and tried to pull away. "HARPER!" what were they yelling. Oh, yeah.that was his name.  
  
  
  
He slowly opened his eyes.  
  
  
  
It was the blonde lady.Beka. "Yeah it's me kiddo. We really need you here. you can freak out later okay?"  
  
He nodded slightly and she pulled him to his feet. "We need you to fix the fusion generator."  
  
He blinked still totally at a loss. "A wh-what?  
  
He warm hands still gripped his cols shoulders. "Come on Seamus think!"  
  
Another man in a uniform intervened. "Beka let him go it won't help. Trance take him down there. work with him maybe it will help."  
  
The blonde women pulled him in to a quick but fierce embrace. "I believe in you." She whispered in his ears before she abruptly let go and ran for a near by station.  
  
The gold girl took his hand and led him away but he had trouble tearing his eyes from the blonde's.no. Beka's back.  
  
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The girl had led him to a conduit and handed a belt of tools. "I don't know what any of these things are."  
  
"Then I'll try to fix. you can hand me the tools."  
  
"No, you can't fix it!"  
  
She turned quickly and looked him in the eyes intensely. "Why? Why can't I fix it?"  
  
  
  
"Ummm. "You can't.you can't."  
  
"Harper think.think hard."  
  
He swore and threw the tools against a nearby wall frustrated. "That's what everyone keeps saying but I can't freakin' remember!!"  
  
He stood there breathing hard a single tear rolled down his cheek.  
  
She pretended she didn't see it. "Then lets go." She replied calmly, picking up the tools and once again handing them to him.  
  
He followed her in to the small tunnels. He liked it here. It was much more quiet. No big guys grabbing you are yelling orders. "Trance?"  
  
"Yes, Harper?"  
  
"Will I remember things again or will this be it?" They stopped in front of a panel. "I mean . will I have to start over?"  
  
"Honestly, I don't know for sure but the probabilities are good.in fact I think you are already starting to remember you just don't realize it yet." She took a tool from the worn belt and started to poke at the open panel. It sparked violently.  
  
"NO!"  
  
She paused. "Do I have the wrong tool?"  
  
"Yes." He answered with out thinking. Then his brow wrinkled with confusion.  
  
"Do the opposite of what everyone's been saying Harper. don't think just answer. What tool do I need?"  
  
"The nano wrench." He gasped as a killer migraine began to form between his eyes.  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"Ummmm."  
  
"Don't think!" she nearly shouted and he flinched back.  
  
"Three relays to the right!" He began to rub the spot between his eyes. "Then remove the one four space to the left."  
  
Trance worked quickly.  
  
He opened his eyes he hadn't realized he had been clenching them close. Everything had a strange red tinge to it. "Headache." He whispered.  
  
She nodded not looking up from her work. "I know, we'll fix you soon. This first."  
  
He closed his eyes and for a long time remembered nothing.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
He woke up in the same room as he had before. There was some small comfort in that. The blonde lady sat in a chair nearby his bed sleeping.  
  
His ached dully but it was more the remembrance of pain. He shifted slightly feeling stiff. Beka blinked awake sleepily.  
  
"Hey sport you awake?"  
  
He nodded unsure of what to say.  
  
"You still have your headache?"  
  
"No." his voice cracked a little.  
  
"Trance said you were starting to remember."  
  
"No..Not really. I just knew what she was doing was wrong." Why could he talk to her.why did he feel he could trust her?  
  
"Well it's a start."  
  
"What about the . Origami?"  
  
"The Ogami?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well you and Trance did the repairs we needed to get away. I'm not sure that's enough for Dylan though. he keeps trying to understand the attacks. but you know Dylan he's never satisfied."  
  
He sat up slowly in the bed with a yawn. "Yeah, I guess. Who's Dylan?"  
  
Beka gave a low chuckle. "I thought we'd spend the day together .maybe it would help bring your memory back."  
  
He got out of his bed slowly blanked wrapped around himself. "Ummm, so. any clue where I keep my clothes?" Beka laughed again and ruffled his hair before she headed to the nearby closest and threw him a pair of pants and a very bright t-shirt.  
  
A small smile crossed his lips...the first one in a while. "Are you sure these are mine?"  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
TBC 


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for your patience I was having trouble posting at this site. Also thank you for all the wonder feed back…here's the next part.

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Harper shadowed Beka all day as she pop quizzed him on the layout of the ship. He didn't have a clue and when she let him lead the way he promptly got lost. 

Next Beka led him to the hydroponics bay and introduced him to all of Trance's plants. The golden girl looked on proudly. By the time she was done he could only remember the name of one plant The plant was a peculiar and prickly shrub. It's name was Tyr. Beka found this very funny. He didn't realize why until she explained that the very large man that had grabbed him yesterday on the bridge was named Tyr. Trance took this as a sign that his memory was improving. 

Trance then suggested that maybe Harper could try to do the things he liked to do. Maybe familiar things would help like before when he was helping Beka with repairs. They went to machine shop five where most of the crew's sporting goods were kept. Beka bounced a basket ball towards him but he just watched it bounce by. He raised one of his eyebrow's slightly.

Beka let out a small laugh. "You're right that never was your game." 

Beka continued to route around in some of the other spare equipment. She tossed items over her shoulder as she went. "Wait here it is!" she pulled out a short flat board with bindings of some sort on it.

"What is it?"? he asked cautiously.

"It's your hover - board."

He took it from her out stretched hands. "What do you do with it exactly?"

"Well you strap it on your feet and fly around… I don't know really, but you seemed to like it. Why don't you try it"

Harper quickly shoved it back in to her arms. "Huh huh, No way!"

"Harper really you love to do this!"

He suddenly looked shyly at his feet. "Umm…"

"What?"

"Well, maybe if you tried it first I could see how it worked."

Beka let out a loud exasperated sigh. "Fine! But don't tell Tyr."

He was puzzled. "Why would he care?"

"Just don't okay?"

He gave a slight nod that she must of took as an agreement.

She sat on the floor and strapped on the board. "Okay wait a minute I forget how you turned it on."

She whistled, snapped her fingers, she even swore at it but all to no avail. She looked towards Harper for support but he simply shrugged his shoulder. 

"I have no idea." he replied.

She hopped up and down hoping some sort of movement would turn it on. She looked towards Harper once again.

He couldn't contain his grin and started to giggle.

"What ! This isn't easy you know!" but she couldn't help but smile as well. She liked seeing him smile it gave her hope. "Watch this." She did a quick spin while waving her arms around. All which left Harper laughing and shaking his head. She then took a deep bow like a famous actor after a play.

Harper cheered and clapped his hands loudly playing along with the joke. The sound of clapping activated the hover - board. It quickly shot eight feet in to the air. Beka was quickly over balanced and the board flipped suddenly. She let out a yelp of surprise and was left dangling upside down. 

Her out stretched hands were unable to grasp on to anything solid..

Harper couldn't control himself. Tears of laughter streamed down his face. He clutched his sides gasping for air. 

"Get me down!" screamed Beka but Harper was completely incapacitated. 

Tyr who was walking down the hall was drawn in by all the commotion. 

"Oh, no." groaned Beka as she saw him. 

When Harper saw Tyr it just sent him in to a new fit of giggles.

A small smile reached Tyr's lips as he gazed upon the inverted Captain.

Beka crossed her arms and did her best to look dignified. 

He raised his hands and held them about a foot apart.

"You wouldn't!" gasp Beka.

Tyr just smiled again and clapped his hands together with one loud bang.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Harper sat in a chair in medical as Beka held ice on her elbow. He was still chuckling to himself. "That was too funny."

"Shut up Seamus." Snipped Beka still a little bitter.

"Yeah, yeah but when that guy…"

"Tyr." Trance gently reminded as she replaced Beka's ice pack.

"Whatever, you have to admit it was funny. You should have seen it Trance."

Trance tried to hide a giggle behind her hand but Beka saw it and looked at her crossly. 

Trance cleared her throat attempting to change the subject. "Well spending the day with Beka hasn't seemed to help other then you seem less reclusive. You are acting more like your old self even if you don't remember."

Harper quickly lowered his eyes and pretended to study his shoes. He had to admit he felt slightly less nervous about these people now. They seemed like good people. And, that big guy was so cool!

"Maybe I could hang out with Tyr… if you're sick of me."

Trance sighed. "We're not sick of you Harper it's just that we want so badly to help you and we are just not sure how to."

Beka looked at him seriously then. "You know there is a chance that you won't ever remember. You might need to face that."

He shrugged his shoulders and thought for a moment. "Maybe it doesn't matter. I mean … maybe I was boring and this makes me more interesting." It was a lame jest as best. He tried to give a small smile.

"Seamus Harper whether you remember or not you will never be boring." Beka smiled at him.

He shrugged his shoulders nervously. He had to admit he was worried. He was starting to know these people…even trust them a little. But he didn't know _he_ was… could he trust himself? He couldn't even do his job anymore. What motivation would they have to keep him around?

He could feel Beka's eyes watching him and he looked up to meet them.

"You know…may be Tyr could do something that would help. Maybe you are trying too hard. Maybe you need to give that brain of yours a rest."

+++++++++++++

One hour later he had completed his 50th pushup in front of his Nietzschean taskmaster. Tyr wasn't nearly as much fun as he had hoped. His arms quivered tiredly. 

"Aww man this sucks can we do something else?"

"Quiet. Ten more." Harper got to five when his arms completely gave up. "Fine get up then and we'll do sit ups."

Harper swore under his breath.

"Get up boy."

"I can't my arms won't work any more." He whined.

Tyr grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. "So Tyr were we friends?"

Tyr hesitated at his question. "Of a sort."   


"What's that suppose to mean?"   


Tyr studied him for a moment but Harper stood fearless in front of him.   


"You really don't remember anything. I can tell by the way you stand there."   
  
He was confused why would he stand and differently?   


"We are shipmates…" started to Tyr. "I saved your life more then once and you have saved the crew's in return. But you could never really trust me. I don't blame you for that."   
  


Harper sat down on the mat. "You know I seem to have these twinges of paranoia." He gave a small smile. "I have them about a lot of different things. But… I couldn't figure out why. I never had those when I was around you. So maybe I did trust you." He studied Tyr for a moment. "What reasons would I have not to trust you?"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++ 

Tyr had to admit the question surprised him. He studied the boy's face. He looked eager and hopeful. Tyr wasn't sure he was willing to put the age back in to Harper's face. "I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you. Maybe you should talk to Beka." 

"Is it that awful?" 

"Our lives haven't been easy. They have put our races at odds for many years. Wars were fought. We were not on the same side." Tyr shrugged his shoulders and hoped the boy would change the subject. 

The boy continued to stare at him as if he was some scientific theory to be puzzled out. After a moment he dropped his eyes. "So sit ups huh?" 

Tyr gave a nod of relief and let out a breath hadn't realized he had been holding. "Yes, 50 straight up, 50 to each side…" 

Harper let a low groan and went back to work. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

"Ohh…ahhh" Harper settled his aching body on to his cot. He had to agree with Beka. It was hard to worry when your body was completely exhausted. He hurt in places he didn't realize he had muscles. He had even soaked in the shower for half an hour but it hadn't seemed to help. 

He had just closed his eyes when there was a loud explosion. He was thrown violently from his bed. He swore as his knee glanced off a piece of nearby equipment. He managed to grab some pants and hop his way to the door as out them on. 

Once in the hallway Beka nearly bowled him over as she ran by. "Beka? What's happening?" He shouted at the blonde woman's back. 

"Solar storm. Go back to sleep!" She replied over her shoulder. Beka rounded the corner obviously on her way to the bridge. 

"Sleep right! Like that's going to happen now." He said a loud to no one in particular. 

He started back to his quarters. The Andromeda shimmied and shook making him walk like a drunken man. 

Then the Andromeda gave a sudden flip. The AG fields were slow to catch up. They should probably be fixed but that was the last thing from his mind as he went careening headfirst in to the nearby bulkhead. 

++++++++++++++++++++++ 

He heard some one groaned and realized the sound came from his own throat. His head hurt, his back hurt…in fact he ached all over. 

He heard a soft melodic voice. "Seamus, are you awake? It's okay you can open your eyes."

Then another female voice. "Come on sport! I'm sick of sitting around here wake up." 

He slowly unglued his eyes and winced at the bright light. "AHH Man!" he complained. He had the king of all migraines. 

Beka saw the problem right away. Rommie lights at half please. The lights dimmed instantly. Trance reached forward an put a cool cloth on his forehead. 

Beka smiled down at him. "Do you know your name?" 

It seemed like an obvious question but it took a minute for him to remember through the haze of pain. "Harper." He whispered. 

"Do you remember…" Trance let the question die on her lips as Beka shook her head and pulled her to the side. 

He heard her whisper. "Give him sometime…" There was more but he couldn't hear it. All he wanted to do is close his eyes and sink back in to misery. 

Trance was back at his side. She injected something in to his neck near his dataport. "For the pain." She whispered "Now, sleep." 

He was only too happy to oblige. He was left alone to rest. Thoughts swirled around his brain as he tried to recall the last few days and wouldn't let him sleep. The pain however did recede. 

Then an idea filtered through his mind. A deliciously evil, wonderful idea. A smile crossed his face. He crossed his arms behind his head and fell in to a blissful sleep. The smile never left his face.

TBC 


	6. Chapter 6

Thank You for all your kind comments everybody the next part should be up waaaay quicker …. I just have a cold right now and can't think straight…so as soon as I can there will be more…thanks again ((Group Hug))

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Early the next morning Harper sat on the medical bay bed swinging his legs back and forth.

  
"Can I go yet?" 

"No." Replied trance of her shoulder. She typed numbers in to a flexi and never even glanced up. 

Harper waited a few moments. "Can I go yet?" 

"No." 

"How bought now?" 

"No." 

"Now?"

"No" 

"How …" Trance threw the flexi at his head. Harper ducked and stifled a laugh. "Aww 

come on Trance pleeeease." He gave her his saddest puppy dog eyes. 

"Harper no! I need to run some tests. You took a pretty nasty blow to the head yesterday and I need you to rest!" 

"But this is boring. I would rather be doing push ups with Tyr and let me tell you that's no barrel of monkey's." 

Trance looked at him confused. "Monkey's" 

Opps. "Umm it's something I heard Beka say." 

"Harper are you sure you're feeling alright?" 

"I'm fine really!" 

"If you take a bit of a nap maybe this afternoon I'll let you out." 

"Fine." He grumbled and lay back on the bed. Moments later he was asleep. 

++++++++++++++++++++++ 

As promised later that afternoon he was given a clean bill of health other then the memory loss. He headed to the bridge to see what the others were up to. 

As he strolled on to the bridge he did a quick look around. Only the captain was present. He had his eyes closed and seemed to be enjoying the glow of a nearby sun. 

"Umm, Hello. "He started hesitantly. He hadn't talked to the Captain much since the accident. 

"Mister Harper! Feeling better I see." 

Harper gave a small meek smile. "Yup." He shrugged. 

"And, your memory?" 

"The same." He would let him believe what ever he wanted. 

Dylan patted him on the shoulder in an understanding fatherly way. "I'm sure things will improve." 

It was all he could do not to snicker right there. "I'm sure your right." 

They both stood in silence for a moment gazing in to the brightness of the star. 

"So Captain Hunt?" 

"Call me Dylan you always did." 

"Okay Dylan then. Trance said it might help me to do familiar things and I was wondering if I might ask a favour." 

"Absolutely, how can I help you?" 

"Well…nah." 

"Don't be afraid …ask me." 

"Well maybe if you had lunch with me I could eat a few of the things Trance said were my favorites and maybe I would remember. I know it's stupid…it just would be nice to have a friend with me…just in case something happened." 

Dylan's eyes softened. "Mr. Harper it would be my pleasure." 

Minutes later the two of them stood in front of the auto-chef. Harper read from a list and ordered two of everything. By the time he was done there was an impressive array of food sitting on the table in front of the two men. 

"Well…er it all looks very impressive." Dylan spoke nervously.   


"Yeah looks great huh!" Harper replied enthusiastically. 

"What's this?" questioned Dylan pointing at a green pile of slug with some sort of red sauce on top. 

Harper referred to his list. "Boiled cabbage with hot sauce… but should we start at the top of the list." 

Dylan swallowed noticeably and gave a small nod. 

"Something called sparky is at the top of the list." Continued Harper. 

"Well that's understandable." Nodded Dylan obviously relieved. 

Harper found two cans and popped the lid on both. "You go first and describe it to me so maybe it will help trigger something in the noggin." Harper pointed animatedly at his head. 

"Okay" Dylan took a cautious sip. 

"Well" Harper asked eagerly. 

"Very sweet but not all together unpleasant." 

"GREAT!" Harper drank the whole can in one gulp. Dylan eyes widened with surprise. 

Harper smacked the empty can on the surface of the table. "Ahhhh. You were right sweet but good! What's next?" 

Dylan took the list from Harper. "Weissbrau. Another drink." 

"Well the first one went well." They both tried the beer. Actually they tried many more then one. Harper burped loudly and rested his hand on his bloated stomach. "Well…Cap'n wuzz next." He slurred. 

"I think we better try some food." He replied muzzily. 

Harper tried to read the list but he was holding it upside down. He frowned puzzled until his captain leaned forward and straightened the paper. 

"It says Synth-ham with chocolate sauce." 

"I've never heard of that but everything else has been okay." 

Harper located the plates on the over loaded table. A thin smile crossed his face and then he put on his most pathetic looks. Which wasn't hard after all the beer. "You try it first? I mean, maybe my mom made this for me? Well I mean if I had a mom…maybe she made this and maybe it was my favorite…will you try it first?" 

Dylan nodded morosely. "Of course." Dylan cut the pink meat with the thick brown sauce. He sniffed it the bravely put a large piece in his mouth. His stomach gurgled. The sparky, the many beers all soured… the moment the under cooked meat hit his pallet. 

Dylan Hunt founder of the new commonwealth, Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant turned green and ran from the room. 

"Are you ok Captain?" he called after him with a concerned voice. All he saw was the great Captains hand waving a dismissal at him. 

It was good because every time he thought about the look on Dylan's face the laughter was uncontrollable. He wiped the tears from his eyes. He was finally going to get revenge for all short jokes, all the mudfoot jokes, and all the practical jokes. When he was done they would crown him the King. No the supreme ruler of practical jokes!!! His grin grew bigger and bigger till it threatened to break his face in two. 

Beka and Tyr were next. 

  



	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for all the support guys...all I have to say I haven't been writing my best stuff lately thanks for putting up with it…it means a lot to me

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Harper engaged privacy mode then crawled through the conduit some lose wire clenched tightly in his teeth. He had left his tool belt back in engineering, as he didn't want the noise from his tools to alert his prey. 

He held his breath as he crawled up to the air vent. He looked down in to the room below. 

It was Tyr's quarter's. Beka sat on the Nietzscheans lounge chair directly below the vent. He would have to be very sneaky or the whole thing would be blown. He took the wires from his mouth and pulled a tiny camera from his pocket. He quickly and silently wrapped the wires around the minuet little camera. He then began to lower it down though the gaps in the air vent's grill. 

Then he waited and watched. 

After forty-five minutes he was satisfied with what he had recorded. With a smirk he pulled the tiny camera back up and crawled away as soundlessly as he had come. 

+++++++++++++ 

Harper walked on to the bridge. Dylan had called a generally staff meeting. There're sure were a lot more people now. The new crew they had picked up had made a real difference. 

Harper yawned loudly and pretended to be confused about most of the facts. It wasn't too hard he had spent most of his life pretending to be dumb. Being a smart mudfoot on a Nietzschean run planet wasn't always an asset. 

When the meeting was pretty much over but before everyone had left. Harper piped up with a question. 

"So Beka can I ask you something?" 

"Sure of course anything you want sport." 

"Are you and Tyr married?" 

"W-what?" she sputtered. 

"Well yeah you see, I was going through some vid files hoping that they would help me remember and stuff." 

Tyr looked on bemused and did not interrupt. 

Harper glanced at him nervously. "Yeah, well…" he continued. "When I saw them I wasn't sure and thought maybe… ah heck I'll just show you. Rommie Play video archive Harper Zulu 1-82-6." 

The screen flickered on. Images of Tyr and Beka appeared. 

Everyone's heads turned towards the screen. There were a more then a few gasps and open mouths. 

Tyr's hand covered his face. It was unclear whether he was hiding a grimace or a smile. 

The room fell in to an uneasy silence. 

Beka had not blinked once. Only her face grew redder and redder. 

Finally Dylan spoke "Err...Nice form Mr. Anasazi." A few chuckles from the crowd erupted. "Rommie…ummm I think we've seen enough." 

"Yes Captain." The vid quickly disappeared. 

"I'm sorry!" Blurted Harper. "I didn't watch it all before…I didn't know. He gave his best horror stricken look and ran from the room. 

He only made it three corridors away before he collapsed to the floor in a fit of giggles. His arms wrapped around his stomach and gasped for breath. 

Rommie and Trance were next. 

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry this took so long folks. It's been a crazy couple of months.. The next part should be coming way faster...this was suppose to be the last chapter but it looks like there will be one more.. thank you for all your kind comments.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Harper planned and planned. His next victims would be the hardest to fool. Rommie had all her lie detecting abilities and Trance.well Trance just knew things.  
  
He finally thought he had a plan that would work. He planned to put it in to effect that evening and he locked him self in machine shop seventeen so he could prepare.  
  
After supper all was quiet on the great ship. Harper asked Trance if she would re-teach him a game that Beka said they used to play. Yeshidunno. Harper had never ever won a game against Trance ever. He owed her like a billion thrones and he planned to get them all back tonight. They also invited Rommie to join them but she wasn't allowed to play as she could count the cards. She wouldn't mean to cheat but she also wouldn't be able to help her self. Sometimes Rommie was too smart.  
  
He had borrowed some of Rommie's maintenance nanobots and adapted them to rearrange the ink on the game cards.  
  
Rommie wouldn't be able to tell that he was lying because he wouldn't be and Trance wouldn't be able to know things because his cards would constantly be changing. The truly neat trick was that he keyed the bots to his DNA so when ever he had the cards they would change to what ever was better then what all the other player's had.  
  
They settled in to some low beanbag like chairs on the OBS deck. Harper had his back to the large viewing window. Rommie and Trance sat on either side of Harper.  
  
Since she couldn't play Rommie agreed to be the dealer. Trance picked up her cards and frowned.  
  
"Something wrong Trance?"  
  
She shook her head and bit her lip.  
  
"So golden goddess.what do I do first?"  
  
Trance explained the complicated rules slowly but Harper caught on quickly and quickly won the first hand. Both women stopped and looked at him with surprise and suspicion.  
  
"Beginner's luck?" he smiled nervously. The women being sensitive to Harper's supposed lack of memory gave him the benefit of the doubt. Yet, Rommie continued to study him.  
  
Harper was getting nervous. After ten rounds both ladies knew something was going on but they couldn't figure out what. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Rommie and Trance were both very strong. Maybe if he could lose a hand they wouldn't be suspicious any more. But how? He would have to refigure the nanobots with out Trance or Rommie seeing.  
  
Rommie grabbed his hand. "Harper what's going on?"  
  
"We're playing cards." That was the truth. He smiled.  
  
"Yes but you never win."  
  
"Well . I never remember winning but I don't remember a lot of things." That was true! People forget stuff all the time. So he decided to pick up his act. He gave Rommie his saddest look. "I wish I was like you. AI's never forget anything."  
  
Rommie snorted with disgust and dropped his hand. Her findings must have been inconclusive.  
  
Harper almost giggled. Maybe this would work out after all. He pretended to cough to hide his smile.  
  
They played another three rounds. "Yeshidunno!" shouted Harper smiling broadly. "I win again!"  
  
"That's nearly 4 million thrones!" exclaimed Rommie.  
  
Trance's nose twitched with impatience. "That's way more then you ever owed me."  
  
"No way! I owed you close to a billion!" Harper paused and blinked his eyes for a moment. "Oh oh I said that out loud didn't I?"  
  
Rommie's eyes scrunched up like she was trying to see something very small.  
  
Trance crossed her arms and glared.  
  
Harper leapt to his feet and ran for the door. Rommie had caught part of his shirt in her hands. It tore. Harper broke free and sprung out in to the hallway.  
  
Rommie's voice followed him. "You won't be able to hide for ever you know. Just wait till the other's find out!"  
  
Harper hopped in to the nearest conduit and ran for his life.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Andromeda's senior staff (excluding Harper) stood on the bridge and discussed their next course of actions. Actually everyone stood except Beka. She paced. Tyr swore he could almost see the gears grinding.soon smoke would be coming out her ears.  
  
Tyr had to admit he was angry also but the boy had shown real ingenuity. He would credit him with that . after he pounded him to a meaty pulp.  
  
Trance ever the voice of reason. "Well maybe we deserved this. We do kind of take him for granted."  
  
At this Beka Finally exploded. "HOW THE HELL DOES HE THINK THIS MAKES US FEEL!" Beka screamed and then paced some more. "I Mean I was worried about him!!.I .I thought he might be damaged permanently! Then he makes fool of us!!! Was he faking all along??!!"  
  
"Beka calm down." Dylan put out his hand consolingly  
  
"Dylan no! This time he has gone to far!"  
  
"I have to admit he has done a lot of things in the past. But, this seems even a bit extreme even for Harper" injected Rommie.  
  
"I know he hasn't been faking the entire time. He had a severe injury. I have the scans to prove it." Trance still defended her friend even when she couldn't understand his motives.  
  
"What we really need to focus on is what to do now." Counseled Tyr. "Those tunnels are small and he's fast.we need to give him motivation.a reason to come out."  
  
Rommie smiled. "I just may have an idea."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++= TBC 


	9. Chapter 9

Gaaaah will this story never end!!!.I promised an ending but I got sick so I didn't get as much typing done as I would have liked..so here is a snippet to tie you over .thanks for the reviews and for sticking with me!  
  
Chapter 9  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
The red klaxons blared through the corridors of the Andromeda.   
  
"Red Alert. AI core error. Systems shut down imminent. Red Alert. Red Alert. AI core error. Systems shut down imminent. Red Alert"   
  
"I KNOW IT"S A TRICK!" shouted Harper his voice echoing through the conduits. No one replied.   
  
The lights started to dim and the alert beacon start to slow and morph like an old earth record player.   
  
"Damn it Rommie! This is low even for you." He swore under his breath. He sighed in defeat there were a few things he could never deny. One of them . a cry from help from his beloved Andromeda.   
  
"Fine. fine!" he growled as he pulled his Dataport cable from his belt. He popped open a near by panel and jacked in.   
  
After a brief flash of light his virtual self stood in front of Andromeda. Rommie had her arms crossed and was glaring at him.   
  
"I new it was a trick" he mumbled.   
  
"Seamus Zelazny Harper! Just what the hell has come over you!"   
  
Harper tried to pull back. He was angry and wanted to storm away. Andromeda held on to him tight. For now he was trapped in the matrix. "Rommie let me go!"   
  
"No! Not till you tell me what's going on! Beka is furious! She feels betrayed. We all do! We thought." Rommie stumbled over her words. "We thought you had forgotten us."   
  
Harper sank down to the ground in true defeat. "Well at first I did. I didn't mean to but I did." He couldn't meet her eyes. "Then later I thought I would just pull a joke.but nothing turned out as I planned. It was suppose to be funny."   
  
"Harper." She said softly. "Nobody's laughing."   
  
"I know." Then his temper started to flare again. He stood up abruptly and started to pace. "How come everyone can tease me but I pull a couple of gags and everyone's out for blood! It's not fair!"   
  
"Harper."   
  
"No! Don't Harper me. I always get treated like dirt. Is it because I'm a mudfoot? Is it because I'm not the best pilot or fighter. Rommie I want to know!"   
  
"Who has ever treated you like dirt!? Beka? She saved you from earth and loves you more then her own brother. Tyr? Who only worries about his own survival, has laid his life on the line for you! Trance? Who didn't sleep for weeks trying to find a cure for your Magog infestation! Dylan."   
  
"Enough!" Harper raised his hands in protest. "I get the picture."   
  
Rommie grabbed his arms. "No I don't think you do." She forced Harper to look at her. "Everyone's so mad because they love you Harper. Do you truly understand that?"   
  
He tried to look away but she wouldn't let him. "Rommie no."   
  
"How long has it been since anyone actually told you that? Has anyone actually ever told you?"   
  
"Well.I." this time it was Harper's turn to stumble over his words. "If you not sure. then that is really where we have treated you poorly."   
  
"Rommie I'm sorry."   
  
"I know." And she pulled him in to a bear hug.   
  
After a moment they parted. Harper laughed.   
  
"What?"   
  
"And people wonder why I love my job so much."   
  
Rommie smiled. "You have to face the others yet you know. No amount of sweet talk will get you out of it."   
  
"I know." He sighed. "Come with me? I might need some protection."   
  
Rommie smiled again. "Meet you in the hall."   
  
Harper blinked his eyes open as he pulled the jack out of his neck. He wasn't looking forward to this.   
  
TBC 


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! For all your supper nice comments for the other parts of this fic. A while ago I said there would only be one more part but it seems for better or worse this is the fic that will not end.gah! I have other stuff on the back burner waiting for this to end!! It will end Damnit!!!   
  
LOL. Anyway here is the next part!   
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++   
  
Rommie had the senior staff gather on Obs deck. "Remember," she said loudly. "I want everyone to remain calm.he is willing to come in and apologize as long as you promise not to let things get out of hand."   
  
Beka grumbled threats but after a few moments promised to behave. Dylan who still looked a little green merely nodded.   
  
"Harper come in." called Rommie   
  
The doors to the Obs deck slide open but the doorway stood empty. Rommie reached around the corner and pulled nervous looking engineer in to the room.   
  
"Umm hi." He waved trying to seem casual and failing miserably.   
  
Beka got to here feet her hands clenched and unclenched. Harper quickly ducked behind Rommie for safety.   
  
"Look, I'm sorry okay!" he squeaked. "I wasn't faking at first but when I got my memory back.it just seemed like a good idea."   
  
"A Good idea!!!" Fumed Beka.   
  
Dylan stood and placed a calming hand on Beka's shoulder. "Harper a practical joke is one thing but we really thought you were hurt."   
  
Harper hung his head in shame. "I know that's why I'm sorry .what can I do to make it up to you?"   
  
"Well you know what?" Smiled Trance dangerously. "Tyr has always told me revenge is sweet but I never really understood that."   
  
"Ww-what?" Stuttered the engineer.   
  
Rommie quickly stepped behind him pinning his arms   
  
"Rommie what are you doing? You said."   
  
"What I said before was true. But, you didn't think we would let you get away with all that you did. Did you? Now it our turn"   
  
"Help! Help!!"   
  
Tyr pulled a large tray from behind the couch.   
  
Dylan took what looked like a chocolate Sunday 'gone bad' from the tray. It was melted with hot chocolate sauce, green dill pickles and anchovies for garnish. "You will eat this .all of it. because I would find it insulting if you didn't like my favorite dish."   
  
Rommie let his arms go but stood near. Harper hesitated but after glancing around the room nervously he took the spoon he resigned him self to his fate. He tried to eat it as fast as he could. The dill pickled caused the ice cream to curdle but he swallowed anyway. He coughed but managed to keep it down. Soon he looked as green as Dylan. "Okay.hahha you got your revenge. I think I'm going to go lie down now okay."   
  
"Not so fast." piped up Beka. "What about the rest of us?"   
  
"The rest of you?" Harper's stomach was starting to gurgle.   
  
"Well we all got humiliated separately it's only fair they we get our revenge separately."   
  
"Ummm okay um so what else do you want to do to me?" Harper swallowed nervously.   
  
Beka walked over to him and slung her arm around him casually. "Another thing about revenge.its best served cold." She rubbed her knuckles on the top of his head and then sauntered casually out of the room. Trance and Tyr followed closely behind smirks on both their faces. Nothing was scarier then a Neitzschean with a smirk.   
  
"Wait what is that suppose to mean!!' Harper shouted after them. There was no answer but he was sure he heard Beka laugh. He turned towards Dylan who still stood behind him with his arms crossed. "What's that suppose to mean?"   
  
"I think Mr. Harper it means you better sleep with your eyes open."   
  
Just then Harper's stomach made an unearthly noise and her ran from the room.   
  
TBC 


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you Thank You!! You guys have truly inspired me!  
  
This chapter is dedicated to Godeskian  
  
Here is the next bit.  
  
++++++++++++++++++ The lights were dimmed low. Only the faint hum of the engines could be heard. In the far corner of the darkened room on a mattress tucked against the wall sat Seamus Harper. Seamus Harper had lived through Magog invasions, Nietzschean occupation and the Battle of Witch Head. He now sat half hidden under his blankets with his hand on his gauss gun.afraid of the dark and what it might bring.  
  
The doors to his quarters flew open. Light from the corridor flooded the room blinding him. He blinked rapidly gaining his eyes sight back. A lone silhouette leaned on the doorframe. He focuses his gun on it. "Who's there?!"  
  
"Just me." It was Trance.  
  
"Stay back!"  
  
"Really Harper is that any way to treat a friend."  
  
"That depends if the friend is looking for revenge."  
  
Trance gave an unreadable smile. "Silly, I brought you a present."  
  
Harper lowered his gun but stayed on edge.he really wouldn't shoot her any way. Yet, how mad was she? She wouldn't do anything drastic just because he cheated at cards? Would she? Harper closed his eyes and held his breath as Trance placed something small on his worktable.  
  
"It won't hurt you.well actually it might prickle you but as long as your careful."  
  
Harper slowly tried to peer through half closed eyes but gave up. "What is it? Is it poisonous?"  
  
"Only if you eat. Harper?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't eat it."  
  
He continued to look at it suspiciously. "I don't get it what's the catch?"  
  
"I just thought you would like it. It's a Cactus his name is Frank. I thought you could use something green and he doesn't need much water."  
  
"Okay fine. Fine.thanks. Leave now!" He started pushing her towards the door.  
  
"Harper. Harper stop!" She pleaded. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Well frankly I don't trust you right now.you and the your evil minions .. so if you don't mind I really would like to be alone right now."  
  
He had her at the doorway. "I'm not a minion."  
  
"Trance just go."  
  
She took a step out but once again hesitated. "Harper one more thing."  
  
Oh no, here it comes.  
  
She looked him square in the eyes. Well he might as well face his death like a man. He straightened up and met her gaze.  
  
"You're the best friend I ever had and I love you.." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. She let out a small giggle and strolled down the corridor and out of sight.  
  
Harper started after her in shock. After a few seconds. "YOU ARE EVIL!" he shock his head and locked himself back in his quarters.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
It was getting late. The lights were dimmed low. Only the faint hum of the engines could be heard. In the far corner of the darkened room on a mattress tucked against the wall sat Seamus Harper. Seamus Harper had lived through Magog invasions, Neitzschean occupation, the Battle of Witch Head and weird pixie mind games. He now sat half hidden under his blankets with his hand on his gauss gun.afraid of the dark and what it might bring.  
  
There was a light knock at the door. "Mr. Harper can I come in?" Harper jumped startled. Man, he was getting jumpy.  
  
"Enter.slowly." Harper got to his feet and stood in a ready fighting stance.  
  
Dylan entered with his hands up. "Can we talk?"  
  
Harper eyed him cautiously. "I suppose."  
  
"Trance said you pulled a gun on her.is everything alright?"  
  
"Fine." The sarcasm hung in the air.  
  
Dylan started to back out of the room. "Okay then. Mr. Harper?"  
  
Harper took a deep breath. "Yeah?"  
  
"I'm sorry I made you eat the pickled and ice cream. It was just joke. I hope you didn't take it wrong. We really do appreciate you around here. You're the best engineer I have ever seen and well frankly Rommie and I have started to think of you as family. Well.I just thought you should know how we feel. Sleep well." Dylan turned and strode down the hall towards his own quarters.  
  
Harper stood in the hallway for quite sometime. This was way to weird. What exactly was going on? Where they trying to make him paranoid on purpose? Or were they just waiting and planning. Maybe he should do a quick sweep of his quarters. Maybe they were just distracting him so Rommie could plant a booby trap. Everybody was being way too nice.he didn't trust nice.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The lights were dimmed low. Only the faint hum of the engines could be heard. In the far corner of the darkened room on a mattress tucked against the wall lay Seamus Harper. He tried to sleep but was only tossing and turning. Seamus Harper had lived through Magog invasions, Neitzschean occupation, weird pixie mind games and strange midnight apologies. He now lay with his head under his blanket and his gauss gun under his pillow.afraid of the dark and what it might bring.  
  
"Damn it I give up!" He swore and got out of bed. Maybe a glass of warm milk or a few Weissbrau's would help. Hmmm Weissbrau he smiled to himself. He had a secret stash in machine shop seventeen. Only one deck away.  
  
He tiptoed down the hall. He got to a junction and stopped. He slowly poked his head out and looked both ways to make sure no one was coming. He continued down the hall to the next junction. He was almost there. A quick trip down the access ladder then." "Boy. Why are you peering around corner's in the middle of the night?"  
  
Harper jumped and squealed. He could feel all the blood rushing from his face.  
  
Tyr stood not two feet behind him calmly studding him.  
  
"Gawd Tyr just kill me! It would be less painful." Harper clutched his hands over his heart.  
  
"What are you jabbering about?"  
  
"Aren't you here to seek your revenge?"  
  
"If I wanted something to happen to you do you think I would tell you."  
  
"Err, I guess not. So what do you want?"  
  
Tyr held up a broken machine part.  
  
"Ah! Wait isn't this the regeneration chamber for your gauss rifle?"  
  
Tyr shrugged an acknowledgment.  
  
"Do you know how explosive this is!" Maybe Tyr planned on blowing him up. Tyr had no love lost for Rommie either. He wouldn't care if he injured the ship the explosion. he..  
  
"I wasn't worried as I know that you are more then competent with this type of thing. Plus, I don't trust any one else with my weapons."  
  
"Aww, Tyr not you to! What's going on!?"  
  
"You've done nothing but babble tonight. Maybe you should go see Trance again."  
  
"See Trance! So that's where it's going to happen! Seamus Harper's Momma didn't raise an idiot! No way! I'm not going to see Trance!!!" Harper took a quick breath. "Wait! Unless that's just what you wanted me to think! Gah! Get away from me!" Harper shrieked and ran down the hall towards the safety of the machine shop.  
  
He could hear Tyr's soft laughter follow him down the hall.  
  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TBC 


	12. Chapter 12

BIG HUGS to all that stuck with me through this one!! You guys really are the best!! Here is the final chapter! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Harper sat on the floor of the machine shop. Unopened bottles of Weissbrau lay at his feet . forgotten. He sat there thinking. I t wasn't something he was use to doing. Things.understanding, knowing, always came without much effort. His brain and his mouth had always saved his butt.come to think of it. most of his problems have been created the same way. But this was new. A riddle with in a riddle. First they swear revenge but then they all act suspiciously nice to him. His mind leapt a head. Maybe they just felt bad because Beka was going to do something really horrible. Harper shivered with unwanted anticipation. He was tired but he couldn't go back to his quarters.they would be expecting that! But he couldn't stay in here forever either. It was almost dawn and he hadn't slept a wink. He yawned hugely and helplessly.  
  
There was a small noise.  
  
Harper quickly grabbed a loose pipe from his workbench. But stayed crouched low and silent. The door to the machine shop slid open slowly. Beka stepped in to the poorly lit room. "Harper?" she whispered.  
  
Silence  
  
"Rommie are you sure he's in here?"  
  
"Affirmative Beka."  
  
Dammit even Rommie was against him. "I'm not going to help you kill me."  
  
"I'm not going to kill you stupid."  
  
"Oh that's endearing?"  
  
Beka tried to follow his voice. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a quick movement going towards the door. She managed to snag the sleeve of his jacket.  
  
"No!" he yelped  
  
"Harper...Harper relax!" she grabbed his arm with the pipe just in case. He struggled but she pushed him against the wall. "STOP IT!" He quit struggling and she let him go but kept one hard wrapping the material of his shirt so he wouldn't try to get away. She knew what he was capable of both good and bad. "Rommie lights up thirty percent"  
  
"A more paranoid person I've never seen!" Beka vented.  
  
Harper finally relaxed and shrugged off her hand. Both of them knew he had no fight left in him. He stayed where his was though, not meeting her eyes like a pouting child.  
  
The silence hung between like a barrier.  
  
Beka ran her hand across her face in obvious frustration. "Listen Harper this whole thing is ridiculous!"  
  
Harper continued to look at the floor.  
  
Beka started to pace. "I realize you were really hurt at the beginning. and of course you wanted to play a practical joke. That's just you. I don't know where this got all out of hand."  
  
"I-I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."  
  
"Dammit Harper!" Beka threw her harms in the air. "You're so missing the point! The jokes aren't the problem! We thought we lost you! Harper had no reply to that. "I know I can skipped out on my work a bit but I'll catch up."  
  
"Gahh! Seamus Harper you are an idiot!"  
  
"What?" he truly was confused. Beka grabbed him by his shirt again and he flinched.  
  
"Look at me."  
  
Harper slowly raised his eyes.  
  
"Seamus, We weren't worried about your work we were worried about you."  
  
"Aww Boss." Harper started to blush and turn away.  
  
"No Harper you need to hear this. I'll admit we kind of thought it would be funny if our revenge would be to try to make you really paranoid by doing nice things. Part of me even enjoyed it. But I was talking to Rommie and she told me about her conversation with you earlier."  
  
Harper didn't like where this was going. It was getting mushy quick. All this lovey dovey stuff made him itchy. He tried to squirm away. "Okay.okay Boss, really, I get it. No more practical jokes. I'm sorry you were worried."  
  
Beka let go of his shirt and took a step back to study him. "Do you Harper really? Get 'it' I mean."  
  
Harper fidgeted. There didn't seem a way to get out of this. His eyes flickered unconsciously towards the door. Beka saw the action and stepped once again in front of his line of sight.  
  
"Do you understand that we are family."  
  
"Beka ..really."  
  
"Say it."  
  
"Beka my family is dead."  
  
"Part of your family is but some of us are living and breathing."  
  
It seemed to get warmer in the room. Harper stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at his feet again.  
  
"Harper do you realize we are family and we love you?"  
  
Okay that was it he needed to get out of here. He needed to move or something. It was getting hard to breathe.  
  
Beka grabbed him stopping his forward movement and grabbed him it to a bear hug. "This isn't easy for me either sport but sometimes it's necessary. I love you and we are family.like it our not you're stuck with us."  
  
They stood that way for a while.  
  
Finally Harper said something it to her shoulder. He wasn't even sure he said it out loud till he heard Beka's quite whisper.  
  
"What is it kiddo?"  
  
"Do you mean it?" He hoped she didn't see that his eyes were starting to water.  
  
She pulled back slightly so she could look at him better. "Of course I mean it." Then she laughed. "Do I need to beat it in to you."  
  
"No, that's okay." He snickered taking a swipe at his rebellious eyes. "Stupid allergies!"  
  
Beka laughed out loud as she wiped her own eyes. "Annoying aren't they. How about we get some breakfast?"  
  
Harper nodded and Beka slung her arm across his shoulders.  
  
They walked towards the door. "Boss you know what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I love you to."  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
5 hours later the entire senior crew was working on the command deck. Harper was trying to catch up on all the work he had put off doing and an open panel in front of him.  
  
Beka and Dylan quietly talked to each other in the corner about navigating a new course to Sinti. Where Trance and Tyr were discussing the finer points of slipstream piloting.  
  
"Ehm Ehm." Rommie who stood by the observation screen tried to get their attention. No on looked up so she tried again.  
  
"Excuse me!" she nearly shouted and everyone jumped with surprise.  
  
"Did you want something Rom Doll?" Harper snickered.  
  
"Yes thank you Mr. Harper. I just thought that we should make it official."  
  
"Make what official?" questioned Dylan.  
  
"Well I don't know about the rest of you but I am glad to see all the practical jokes are over. So I thought it would be nice to have something to symbolize it was all really over and we could make a fresh start."  
  
"What is it?" questioned Harper stepping towards her more then a little curious. Rommie pulled a cream by from behind her back and threw it at Harper's face with deadly accuracy. Silence. Harper wiped the cream from his eyes. "It's okay Rommie I guess I got my just Desserts" Every body broke out in to laughter. Everything was back to normal.well as normal as things got with Seamus Zelazny Harper around. THE END 


End file.
